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The Enlightenment in Europe Europeans borrowed readily, but also proved eager to spread their knowledge of God and nature around the globe. This impulse came from Enlightenment views that universal and objective knowledge, gained through scientific investigation, applied to all peoples everywhere. Exposed to goods and ideas from all over the globe, European thinkers became convinced that their culture was the only true standard.
In Europe, economic prosperity and broader cultural awareness opened the way for a new class of nonaristocrats, complete with their own sense of worth and new culture, that challenged both Europe’s nobility and the church. Crises in the seventeenth century led Europe’s disenchanted to seek "objective" knowledge of the world and to form new centers of culture apart from the political realm. Science and the scientific method expanded, and slowly Europeans began to see practical applications in this new knowledge.
Stimulated by the wealth of growing commerce and world contact, philosophical ideas generated the view that the universe operated according to natural laws that could be understood. By the end of the seventeenth century, monarchs had even begun to show interest in science as a way to augment their own power and status. Science spread to elites outside the court and eventually even to the common people, particularly as the practical value of science became more widely acknowledged. Even so, much of Europe remained under the influence of Christianity and the court, which had yet to be transformed by scientific "objectivity."
Enlightenment thinkers believed that man could be perfected, rejecting the view that man was inherently corrupt and distanced from God. Corrupted social traditions and institutions of church and state, they asserted, were the source of problems. Flourishing in Europe’s cultural centers, the Enlightenment was accompanied by an explosion of printing, salons, and book clubs, largely supported by aristocrats and successful commoners. Enlightenment thinkers pushed for a meritocratic system, which recognized that men of all classes were equally endowed with reason and intelligence. Government should provide opportunities for all, not just elite classes. They also sought to discover, like natural scientists, the laws governing human behavior. Economic laws, claimed Adam Smith, applied to all peoples, who needed to follow them if they wanted prosperity. Turning their sights on religious practice, Enlightenment advocates demanded that religion be advanced by reason, not force. This view thus opened the way for greater toleration of religion. Spreading ideas through the printed word, like the Encyclopedia , Enlightenment thinkers championed rationality and commercial growth. Naturally, by this standard "Europe" fared better than most other places, creating a Euro-centric view of the world. Ironically, absolutist governments found that certain Enlightenment views could be turned to their advantage and support absolutist ambitions. >> Continue to the next part of the Summary: Hybrid Cultures in the Americas
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